The Colossus of Rhodes (movie)

The Colossus of Rhodes is a Franco-Italian-Spanish film directed by Sergio Leone in 1961 .

Synopsis

Darios, a Greek military hero, visits his uncle in Rhodes in 280 BC. AD Rhodes has just finished building a huge statue of Apollo (the Colossus) to protect its port and is considering an alliance with Phenicia against the Greece . Darius falls in love with the pretty Diala, daughter of the statue’s architect, but he is also involved with a group of rebels led by Peliocles. These rebels seek to overthrow the tyrant Xerxes, as well as his second, Therion. The rebels are captured and forced to amuse the crowd in the arena, but an earthquake overthrows the colossus and … the power.

Around the film

Although he already has some experience of film direction, it seems that this film is the first of which Sergio Leone is the only one responsible. But it’s also the film he loved most to realize. In addition, there are some appearances during crowd movements.

The film was broadcast several times on television in France, shortened by several minutes: some sequences were without reason amputated from their beginning or their end, or even entirely cut.

Two scenes were cut in the French version: Darios visited Diala in his garden before attempting to reach Athens by boat.

The second scene takes place after the rebels rescued their companions on the point of being sacrificed to Baal: Darios briefly talks with Myrte, one of the rebels.

The film was shot in Spain in the port of Laredo in Cantabria , in the Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia), in Manzanares El Real near Madrid, and around the enchanted city (Ciudad Encantada) near Cuenca.